Hi,
I'm interested in publishing photographs I took of bikers at Northwest 200 this year in a form of a calender. I am curious about the legalities of publishing the photos for copyright reasons of the bikers.
The bikers can't be identified by their faces as only their eyes are showing but they could be identified by their bikes. I spoke to a photographer who sells these types of images for over 20 years and has never had any issues, but he only sells to magazine/newspapers and has never self published.
I was wondering would the bikers have any grounds to sue if the photographs were published without their permission.
Thanks
Publishing photos in Calender
Hi Stuartie,
There are no copyright issues with what you propose.
Also, there is no privacy law in the UK which requires that you to obtain permission from anyone either before or after you photograph them in a public place, although there are certain occasions when the right to a private life, even though a person is photographed in public, can trump this basic position. A good example of this occurred when a newspaper published pictures of Naomi Campbell attending a drug rehabilitation session, and the court later found in her favour because the use of the photographs was disproportionate and clearly intruded upon her private life, in the way that paparazzi shots of her attending a night club would not have done.
I assume these photographs were taken at a public event, or at least in a public place, and so the bikers can have had no real expectation of privacy. This would be the key objection under the Human Rights Act.
And from what you have said, your photographs sound as if they will be mainly reportage, and therefore neutral in terms of any comment that they may imply about the bikers, so I cannot see any grounds for objections on the grounds of defamation.
On that basis, you should be pretty free to publish your pictures. The only problem I see would be if the bikers are members of the local Hell's Angels Chapter, they are unlikely to use the courts to resolve any complaint they may have with your pictures!
There are no copyright issues with what you propose.
Also, there is no privacy law in the UK which requires that you to obtain permission from anyone either before or after you photograph them in a public place, although there are certain occasions when the right to a private life, even though a person is photographed in public, can trump this basic position. A good example of this occurred when a newspaper published pictures of Naomi Campbell attending a drug rehabilitation session, and the court later found in her favour because the use of the photographs was disproportionate and clearly intruded upon her private life, in the way that paparazzi shots of her attending a night club would not have done.
I assume these photographs were taken at a public event, or at least in a public place, and so the bikers can have had no real expectation of privacy. This would be the key objection under the Human Rights Act.
And from what you have said, your photographs sound as if they will be mainly reportage, and therefore neutral in terms of any comment that they may imply about the bikers, so I cannot see any grounds for objections on the grounds of defamation.
On that basis, you should be pretty free to publish your pictures. The only problem I see would be if the bikers are members of the local Hell's Angels Chapter, they are unlikely to use the courts to resolve any complaint they may have with your pictures!
Advice or comment provided here is not and does not purport to be legal advice as defined by s.12 of Legal Services Act 2007
-
Stuartie_b
- New Member
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2012 4:37 pm